Granite Poncho

We've been on a poncho roll lately, but this one is our favorite day-in, day-out wear. It's the perfect balance of warm but not suffocating (with from-below ventilation provided by the open design), thick but still supple (from a semi-open crochet stitch), and with good visual interest (from an easy but interesting stitch). The stitch is named 'granite' in the French vintage book we found it in, and this seems emphasized with the subtle yarn color (not that it wouldn't work in lurid orange or...). This easy poncho is completely reversible, an inherent quality of crochet. It's based on the old Peruvian idea of 2 short rectangular pieces - if you can make a scarf you can make this!

Level of difficulty

Beginner.

Materials

Size

L-XL, (2X-3X).

5 (6) balls Crystal Palace Iceland (110yd/100g ball) color 7250 (jaguar), 100% merino wool.
Crochet hook, size K (6mm).

Finished measurements

2 rectangles, each 18"/46cm (19"/48cm) wide and 29"/74cm (30"/76cm) long.
If you're very tall, you might want to make each piece an inch or so longer, if you're particularly broad of breast or shoulder, you might want to make them wider instead. Keep them the same no matter what you do.

Gauge

Horizontal: a smidgen under 4 granite sts per 4"/10cm. Vertical: 6 rows per 4"/10cm.

Stitches used

US:
Chain st(ch).
Half double crochet (sc): yarn over, insert hook, pull loop through, yarn over, draw through 3 loops on hook.

GB:
Chain st(ch).
Half treble (hdc).

Stitch Diagram

Granite stitch:
row 1: 2 ch * 2 hdc in same st, skip next st * repeat from * till end of row.
row 2: 2 ch * 2 hdc between next 2 hdc below * repeat from *. Finish row with 2 hdc into ch at beg of row below.
(Please excuse the diagram quality, it's only to give you an idea...)

DIRECTIONS

Poncho strips (Make 2)

Chain a multiple of 2 -1, or 31 (33) in this case.
row 1: 2 ch, * 2 hdc in same stitch, skip next stitch *, repeat from * till end of row.
row 2: 2 ch, * 2 hdc between next 2 hdc below *, repeat from *. Finish row with 2 hdc into chain loop at beginning of row below.
Repeat row 2 till piece is length desired. Bind off.

Finishing

Sew (or more simply chain stitch) both pieces together, keeping seams as neat as you can because they'll show a lot, following the above diagram.
Use yarn needle to work ends in. Avoid the urge to block this, all you'll achieve is to flatten it out.